


Five Kisses (Stages of Grief)

by purplejellosg1



Category: Fate: The Winx Saga (TV)
Genre: F/M, Five Kisses, Five Stages of Grief, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Not Beta Read, Post-Season/Series 01, Pre-Canon, Protective Farah Dowling, Protective Saul Silva
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29241654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplejellosg1/pseuds/purplejellosg1
Summary: Five kisses shared by Farah Dowling and Saul Sila. Pre-series right to a possible future glimpse.
Relationships: Andreas & Farah Dowling & Ben Harvey & Saul Silva, Farah Dowling & Ben Harvey & Saul Silva, Farah Dowling & Saul Silva, Farah Dowling/Saul Silva
Comments: 18
Kudos: 124





	Five Kisses (Stages of Grief)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I don't know. I've fallen for this couple like Woah, and am in very much deniable that all is as it seems after the end of season one. Trying to find their voices, so please bear with me while I learn!

**I: Denial - The Game**

Drinking games and the annual Specialists party went hand in hand; the mastermind behind it, Saul Silva, wouldn't have it any other way. There was loud music, lots of booze, and an understanding amongst the students in attendance that what happened at the party, stayed at the party.

She rolled her eyes but went along with it; the two Specialists she and Ben had been assigned to, not quite close friends yet but perhaps one day, were in charge of the entertainment, after all, and her suitemates would have insisted on dragging her along for the ride even if Saul hadn't used his puppy dog eyes on her to get her to promise to go, and Ben had pleaded with her to help him keep their partners in line if things got too raucous. 

Andreas was the one who suggested they play spin the bottle, an Earth game that had made its way to the Otherworld some years before. Ben had protested, and managed to get out of sitting in the haphazard circle when his girlfriend, Rose, dragged him off to an alcove to 'talk'; Farah had no such luck. 

Her suitemates giggled and preened and pulled her with them to sit in the circle. Saul sat opposite, a 'who me?' grin on his face when she glared at him accusingly, as though it was his fault she was in this mess. Beside him, Andreas smirked, a calculating expression on his face as he leaned forward to set the bottle in the middle of the ring of specialists and fairies.

It's the third spin when it happens, or almost happens. 

The bottle spins and spins, and something in her chest tightens as it begins to slow. She's in the direct line of it, but it's debatable whether it's settled on Saul or Andreas, almost coming to point between them as it continues to roll back and forth for a moment. Just as it looks like it's stopped on the blonder of the two men, it shifts again, almost deliberately, so it's definitely pointed at her and Saul.

Andreas will later tease – almost accuse – her of shifting it deliberately with her magic; her suitemate, Eleanora, will wink at her before they retire for the night and tell her she's welcome. 

But at that moment, with her heart racing and her brown eyes wide with shock, Farah can only sit there as Saul grins at her, leans in, and presses his lips against hers.

It's a fleeting, barely there, alcohol-tinged kiss, but one that she thinks about too times over the next few months. 

**II: Anger - The Fight**

It's not unusual for a training session to go wrong; more of them do than don't at first. 

Rosalind is relentless, pushing them – pushing her – hard; Farah tells herself it's because the Headmistress knows what they're capable of and won't accept anything less than perfection, but she sees a glimpse of something in Rosalind's icy eyes sometimes that makes her think, for a second, that may be the older woman gets some perverse pleasure from seeing them suffer.

Sometimes, when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in spectacular fashion.

Sometimes, when it goes wrong, tempers flare and get the better of them.

It's on one of those times that it happens again.

They're fighting, arguing, words getting more and more heated. Ironically, they're arguing about who's responsible for the failure, both of them wanting to take on the blame rather than let the other.

Andreas backs out of the greenhouse, their preferred place to go for their unofficial debriefings, a smirk on his face as if he knows he's getting out of something he caused. In hindsight, Farah thinks, a lot of the things that went wrong were because of their self-appointed leader, because he'd been hellbent on getting the victory and the success for himself if not for them as a team.

But, in the heat of the moment, it's hard to see that – especially when Saul is so adamant that their failure rests with him and the burn – minor, easily fixed with the salve Ben is putting together – on her arm in his fault.

Farah argues with him that she's capable of looking after herself, that she doesn't need a Specialist to do it for her. 

Saul argues back that it's his job to protect her so she can concentrate on using her magic, that he's the Specialist he'd been assigned and he let her down.

Ben pretends he's not there, paying far more attention than necessary to the slow, methodical action of using the pestle and mortar to combine the yarrow with the aloe vera to make a salve that will help the burn heal faster.

The louder their voices raise, the closer they get. It makes no sense but it's a heated moment, emotions are running high and Farah finds herself all but screaming at him in an attempt at getting him to listen.

"Why do you assume everything is your fault? Do you have such a god complex that you can't accept you don't control everything?"

"Why won't you admit that sometimes you need protecting? You're the one who thinks she's all-powerful, who doesn't need anyone! Does it not get lonely up there on that pedestal you've put yourself on, Farah?"

Years later, Saul will admit it's him who put her on a pedestal, him who put her so far above the rest of them that he was blinded to anything other than an intense need to keep her up there, safe and away from harm.

But they're younger, not as in control of their feelings or thoughts or actions as they one day will be.

Suddenly they're closer than ever, Farah's in the middle of saying something she's already beginning to regret but in no way able to stop herself and then...

She stops. Or, rather, his lips stop her.

Ben will claim it's an accident, that he was so focused on the salve that he didn't realise his own emotions were spinning out of control and desperate for them to stop fighting. 

The tendrils of the plant tighten around them, keep them that way for a few precious seconds. 

Neither Farah nor Saul knows how to react, freezing in the moment, all thought of arguing fleeing from their minds as they realise what's happened.

And then it's over as soon as it began, Ben's cheeks as red as theirs. Saul mutters something under his breath about needing to catch up with Andreas, and all but runs from the greenhouse. 

**III: Bargaining - The Vigil**

His body is still, so very still.

There were more Burned Ones than they'd been expecting and Saul – stupid, foolish, over-protective Saul – had put himself between her and the enemy as she'd focused on her magic, summoning the power she needed to help end the fight.

They'd found themselves separated from the others, had heard the sound of fighting through the trees as Andreas and Ben had fought alongside Rosalind to take out their own targets. Farah remembered standing back-to-back with her partner, hearing the sound of the blade slicing through the air as he struck the enemy, buying her time.

She remembered the grim satisfaction of taking out two of the Burned Ones with her magic, remembers how quickly it faded when she realised Saul wasn't standing behind her anymore but was on the ground, a Burned One advancing on him.

She remembered the quick fear, the fury, the thought of 'no, he's mine, you can't have him' that blazed through her mind as her power came to her almost without bidding, striking the Burned One with such ferocity that it flew some feet away before crumpling into a lifeless heap.

Rosalind had witnessed the display, had expressed her pride that Farah was finally reaching her true, powerful potential.

Farah found no joy in the praise, fear for the man she dropped to her knees beside preventing her from feeling anything else.

Andreas and Ben carried him back to Alfea, their concern for him apparent. Rosalind followed at a slower pace, falling into step with Farah.

"You did good work today," her Headmistress and mentor told her, a bright smile on her face despite the smear of blood on her cheek. "That's what I expect from you, Farah, in every fight going forward. Don't let me down."

A threat wrapped up in a compliment, and one that went over Farah's head as she hurried after the three men who'd come to mean the world to her.

And now she found herself sitting at Saul's bedside, waiting for him to wake up. 

His injuries had been treated, and there was no risk of the infection spreading since all of the Burned Ones had been killed. She'd been assured by several people that he was just resting and would wake up when he was ready but Farah wouldn't believe it, not until his eyes opened and locked with hers. 

It was at that moment that she realised the bond between them had changed, at least on her part. Her feelings for him were different to those she had for Ben and Andreas, different and maybe a little stronger. 

"Please wake up," she whispered, taking his all too still hand in one of hers. She lifted the other to his face, stroking the hair back from his forehead as she reached inwardly for her magic, using it to settle him as his brow furrowed while he slept on. "I... I need you, Saul. I don't think I realised just how much."

He stayed still and silent, the gentle rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still alive. 

Farah dropped her head to the bed beside him, bringing his hand to her lips. She pressed a kiss against his scraped knuckles and let her eyes slip shut. 

Oblivious to his eyes opening, a small smile on his lips.

**IV: Depression - The Dark Days**

The aftermath of Aster Dell would haunt them for a long time, if not forever. 

Days after the horrific events and the unthinkable betrayals, Farah would turn on her mentor and imprison her behind a veil of magic too powerful for even Rosalind to break alone. It happened in the office of the Headmistress, who had returned to the school after a trip she kept tight-lipped about. She was too happy, too pleased with the events that had taken place. 

Farah wasn't sure what she found worse, that she'd been so completely manipulated by Rosalind or that her mentor showed absolutely no remorse for the huge loss of life, including one of their own.

"Andreas didn't die in the fight, Farah," Rosalind reminded her, lips curled up in a cruel smile. "I don't see you railing against Saul for that."

Farah bit her tongue, hard enough to taste blood. She felt her power rise but fought it back. "Saul did what he had to. Andreas drew his sword first."

"And yet Saul is here, alive and well, raising his best friend's son as his own. His best friend," Rosalind continued, "who he killed without remorse."

"You're the only one who feels no remorse, Rosalind." It was easy to argue; Farah was the one Saul turned to in the night, haunted by his own nightmares just as she was haunted by hers. The mind fairy knew all too well how much guilt Saul carried, and sensed none of the same in the Headmistress sitting like a queen behind her desk. "Do you even care that so many died? Does it not bother you in the slightest?"

"The end justifies the means," Rosalind said, a careless shrug showing how little she thought of those who'd lost their lives that day. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."

It was the final straw as far as Farah was concerned, the final act that sealed Rosalind's fate.

Her power burst out from her, freezing the older woman, cocooning her in raw magic.

Farah felt no remorse in that moment as she calmly summoned Saul and Ben to the office, no guilt as together they worked to move the older fairy into the secure room hidden in one of Alfea's secret tunnels. She kept herself together as she informed Queen Luna that Rosalind had left Alfea and accepted the promotion from teacher to Headmistress. She held her head high as she addressed the facility, seeing confusion but also relief on their features and made plans with Saul on how best to break the news to the students.

She held it together until she was lying in bed that night, her subconscious mind recalling the events of the day.

"You haven't won, Farah," Rosalind's voice seethed and taunted, the threat accompanied by such hatred that Farah felt suffocated, as though she couldn't breathe. "You'll rue the day you did this. I'll take everything from you, everything and everyone, and you'll live just long enough to see it."

She woke with a gasp, tears blinding her, her breath caught in her throat. The man beside her sat up, too, opening his arms as she melted against him.

Saul pressed his lips to her forehead, her cheek, before settling over hers. She tasted her tears on his mouth and broke away to bury her face in the crook of his neck, the dam breaking as she mourned for all those lost at Aster Dell, for Andreas and even for Rosalind. 

"It's okay, Farah," he murmured, his arms around her keeping her grounded. "I've got you. We'll get through this, together. I promise."

**V: Acceptance - The Reunion**

When she saw him for the first time after everything unravelled, Farah stumbled. She would have fallen if not for Ben's arm around her slender waist, keeping her swaying form from collapsing. 

She felt as well as heard the concern of the girls around them, and took strength from them, from the Winx girls who'd grown up so much sooner than they'd had to, who'd helped her take on the demons of the past – and had defeated them.

Rosalind was gone, for good. Her motivations had been exposed, her manipulations bringing her to her knees before the Soliarans and Alfeans, who'd banded together to call for justice. Queen Luna had had no choice but to give in do their demands and Rosalind, never one to admit defeat, had lashed out only to be stopped by her protégé.

The woman she'd thought she'd killed.

The battle had taken it out of Farah, but it was that first glimpse of Saul, unkempt but thankfully unharmed, that made her knees go weak.

He was escorted to the old cemetery by Sky, his arm slung around the younger man's shoulder. It did her heart good to see them together, to realise that the bond between them was still there, perhaps stronger than ever. She would later learn that was Andreas's doing, that their old friend had betrayed them both and brought them closer, united against the monster he'd turned into.

On seeing her, Saul stepped away from his son in every way but biological. He strode towards her, his steps sure and certain. Farah broke away from Ben just to be swept up in Saul's arms, clinging to him as fiercely as he clung to her.

The whispers and squeals and giddy giggles of the girls behind her disappeared; she closed her eyes against the embarrassed grin on Sky's face over Saul's shoulder as he watched them.

Saul kept one arm around her waist as he lowered her to the ground, his other hand cupping her face as he closed the gap between them and kissed her deeply, uncaring of their audience.

She clutched at him blindly, tears of relief running unchecked down her cheeks. She kissed him back just as ferociously, right there in the cemetery where she'd died.

Surrounded by those she cared for the most, so glad they'd given her a reason to live. 

#  
End


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